Degradation of methylene blue with H2O2 activated by peroxidase-like Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles

Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs) were successfully prepared through an advanced reverse co-precipitation method under the assistance of ultrasound irradiation. The structure and size distribution were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), laser particle size analyzer (LPSA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. The magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles were measured by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Such Fe3O4 MNPs were used as a peroxidase mimetic to remove the dye pollutant methylene blue (MB) in the presence of H2O2. Some important reaction parameters were optimized to improve the degradation of MB. It was observed that the degradation efficiency of 10 mg L(-1) MB was above 96% over 0.62 g L(-1) Fe3O4 MNPs within 0.30 mmol L(-1) H2O2 at pH 4.85 and temperature 25 degrees C in 15 min, being superior to the previous reports.